Lights and Sounds
by Auden Grey
Summary: "There are a million things I could be doing right now! I don't have the time or energy to spend the night listening to Cat 'oh' and 'aw' at everything and eat her weight in sugar!" / Beck and Jade take Cat to the carnival. What fun!


**I think this may be the cheesiest thing I've ever written. Also, I'm kind of becoming obsessed with Beck/Jade/Cat and their little dynamic...which could mean lots more fics like this one. As always, thanks for reading! :)**

* * *

Jade took one look at the entrance to Venice Beach's carnival, took three steps back, crossed her arms and yelled: "no!" Unfortunately, Beck was there to pull her back with his stupid grin and fluffy hair. He forced her hand into his and squeezed it.

"We promised Cat we'd take her to the carnival."

"Beck," Jade whined. "We're not her parents!"

"Are you whining? Are you seriously whining?"

Jade let out another whine and glanced back at the port o potty lines to make sure Cat was still there. When she was, she turned to Beck angrily. "Yes! There are a million things I could be doing right now! I don't have the time or energy to spend the night listening to Cat 'oh' and 'aw' at everything and eat her weight in sugar!"

"Name one thing you could be doing right now."

"Things!" Jade stuttered, glaring at Beck when all he did was laugh in return. "I could be polishing my new scissors! That's what I could be doing right now."

"Well, we're taking our _daughter_ to the carnival," Beck teased, pressing a kiss to Jade's temple. "Pretend like you're having fun."

"Don't ever refer to Cat as our daughter again," Jade warned, pulling her hand away from Beck. She impatiently waited for Cat to return and stared at all the people in disgust as they shoveled fried dough and other greasy foods in their mouths. "I don't understand why Vega couldn't have taken her to this."

"Tori took her to the movies last night," Beck sighed. "Come on, Jade," he whispered, pulling Jade into his arms. "You know things have been hard on Cat since her brother got hospitalized again."

"Yeah, yeah," Jade mumbled, putting on a fake smile when Cat came barreling towards them.

"I feel so icky!" she pouted. "Those bathrooms were smelly!"

"I told you to use the bathroom before we left the house," Beck said matter-of-factly.

Jade just rolled her eyes because he sounded like a father. "If you feel icky we can go home, Cat!"

"No!" Cat gasped, holding onto Beck's arm. "I want to ride all of the rides and eat lots of fried dough and ice cream and win a lot of stuffed animals! Let's go!"

"I'm literally going to kill you," Jade told Beck as Cat began to drag them both away. Well, more like Cat was dragging Beck and Beck was dragging Jade because she refused to move otherwise. "Sleep with one eye open, Oliver."

Cat giggled at all of the bright lights and various games set up all around the pier. It was a cool summer night and listening to the waves crash against the beach always made her happy. She tugged on Beck's hand excitedly when they got to a booth with a bunch of stuffed giraffes as prizes. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Beck!" she cried, jumping up and down. "Look! Look at all of those big giraffes! Will you win one for me? Pleasy, Beck?!"

Jade just smirked at her boyfriend when he looked distressed. "Yeah, Beck. Go ahead."

Beck stared at the game. All you had to do was throw three ping-pong balls into a mason jar. It seemed easy enough. He paid the dull looking carnival worker and threw each ball half-heartedly.

None of them went in.

"Aw, phooey," Cat cried, stomping her foot in annoyance. "Can you try, Jade?"

Jade looked at Cat in offense. "I don't participate in carnival games." Then, Cat did her famous pout and puppy dog eyes and Jade found herself slamming three dollars down on the counter.

Cat squealed in delight. Jade purposely missed all of the jars.

"Oh, well," she sighed with a shrug. "Next time."

"But, but!" Cat began to sniffle, staring longingly at the rows of giraffes that weren't going home with her. "I want a giraffe!"

"How about ice cream?" Beck suggested before Cat could cry hysterically.

Cat wiped her eyes and squealed. "Kay, kay!"

Jade grabbed the back of Cat's shirt as she went to zoom ahead to the ice cream stand. Granted, it was only a few feet away but knowing Cat, she'd get lost in the sea of unattractive carnival dwellers. "We should have brought a leash."

"We should have," Beck chuckled, slinging his arm around Jade's waist as she barked at Cat to stay right next to her. They got in line behind a cheery family (much to Jade's dismay). "What do you want, Cat?"

"An ice cream cone!" Cat squealed, standing on her tiptoes to get a good look at the ratty menu taped outside of the stand. "No, fried dough! No, no, nachos! Wait! Ice cream. I want ice cream!"

"Are you sure?" Beck asked.

"Yes," Jade snapped, pinching the bridge of her nose. "She's getting ice cream and that's it."

Cat giggled and looped her arm through Jade's. "What do you want, Jade?"

"A valium," Jade hissed in annoyance, shoving Cat in front of her when it was their turn to order.

"Oh," Cat squeaked. "My brother takes those when he goes to the special hospital!"

Beck ruffled Cat's hair when her face fell. "How about you get two scoops."

Cat was back to her happy self again.

"You can't medicate her with ice cream, Beck!" Jade yelled at her boyfriend, pulling angrily at the lapels of his shirt. "She'll be bouncing off the walls!"

Beck merely turned his palms up and smiled. He eyed Cat as she ordered a double chocolate ice cream cone dipped in rainbow sprinkles. "Do you want anything?"

Jade shook her head. "No."

The carnival employee carefully handed Cat her cone and she took it with as much excitement as a five-year-old would. Jade grabbed a bunch of napkins and shoved them into Cat's hand. She didn't see this going down too well.

"Go sit on that bench and eat that thing. Quickly," Jade demanded, giving Cat a little shove in the right direction. "I changed my mind. Order me a smoothie."

Beck stared at her knowingly. "What's the magic word?"

"Now," Jade smiled back. She glanced back at Cat to make sure she was still on the bench.

"So polite," the carnival employee butted in.

Jade glared at him, hands on her hips. "Wow, I don't remember you being apart of this conversation."

"Go sit with Cat," Beck jumped in before things got ugly. "I'll pay for everything."

"Yeah, that's right," Jade grumbled as she grabbed a few more napkins and stalked off towards Cat. She sat down and groaned loudly when Cat was loudly humming the tune to _Sesame Street_ in between licks of ice cream. "NO."

Cat jumped in fright but continued to eat her ice cream. It was dripping down her fingers and her mouth was completely covered in melted chocolate.

"Seriously, Cat? Seriously?!"

Before Cat could ask what, Jade was wiping her mouth with a bunch of rough napkins like an annoyed mother. Cat scrunched up her face in embarrassment and tried to pull away.

"Jade!" she cried. "Stop!"

"You're not getting in my car like that," Jade warned, balling up the napkin and throwing it at a passing child who was sobbing hysterically. She laughed to herself when it hit him in the head.

"Like what?" Cat asked innocently.

"Don't make me cut off your cute little ponytail."

Beck strolled over with Jade's smoothie and a cup of ice cream for himself. Jade took it with disinterest and sipped it slowly. Cat was halfway done with her cone and Jade knew she was going to want to go on some rides.

Cat stared at Beck's ice cream in interest. "What kind did you get?"

"You're not having my ice cream," Beck chuckled, sliding closer to Jade when Cat leaned in to get a better look.

"Jade, do you want some of my ice cream?" Cat asked her friend with a bright smile, shoving the melted cone in Jade's face.

"No," Jade scowled, standing to her feet. "I hate ice cream."

Cat sighed and took one last lick before throwing her cone into the trash. "That's like hating America!"

Jade closed her eyes and took four deep breaths before glaring at Beck. "Hurry up and let's get this over with." She threw her cup out and shrugged when Beck looked offended.

"That cost me like five dollars."

"So?" Jade shrugged. "That's your problem."

"Come on!" Cat squealed, her sticky hand grabbing onto Jade. "I want to go ride the bumper cars!"

"Jade loves bumper cars," Beck said to Cat while his girlfriend remained nonplussed.

"I like ramming into people," Jade clarified.

Cat giggled and pulled on Jade's arm a little tighter. "One time, my brother rammed into a tree with my mom's car."

Jade and Beck exchanged a confused look. "Why?" Beck dared to ask.

"It was in the way," Cat replied seriously. "I want to ride a pink car!" Her face suddenly fell when she saw how long the lines were. "This is going to take forever!"

"How about we ride the swings first?" Beck said, trying to diffuse the situation.

Cat shook her head and frowned. "No! Whenever my brother takes me to the carnival we always ride the bumper cars first!"

Jade had to stop herself from saying "your brother's not banned from carnivals?"

"But the line for the swings is much shorter," Beck continued. Jade was glaring at him but he figured she was still mad at him for dragging her here. Especially since Cat was headed for a breakdown. "By the time we get off the swings, I bet the line for the bumper cars will be shorter."

"No, no, no!" Cat cried, stomping her foot. She pulled her arm away when Beck went to grab it. "This is not how my brother and I do it!"

The other people in line were starting to stare. Jade sighed in embarrassment and pulled Cat into her arms. "It's fine, Cat. We'll stay in line. Maybe Beck can go on the swings all by his lonesome self and then walk home. Alone."

Cat wrapped her arms around Jade's waist and sniffled into her shoulder. "I want to go home, Jadey."

Now Jade was _really_ going to kill Beck. "Why?"

"I just want to go!"

"Cat, we just got here," Beck sighed, rubbing Cat's back. "Do you want some more ice cream?"

"No," Jade hissed, squeezing Cat tight against her chest. "Let's just take her home, Beck. I'm not dealing with this."

"We've been here for fifteen minutes, Jade. I'm not going anywhere."

"Fine," Jade said with a heavy sigh. She grabbed Cat's hand and began to pull her out of line. "We'll go. Have fun!"

Beck pulled on Cat's arm and tugged her back. Jade did the same. Cat squeaked and squealed as she snapped back and forth like an accordion. "Stop, stop!"

"She wants to ride the bumper cars!"

"She wants to go home!"

"Why can't you just pretend like you're happy to be here?"

"OH."

Cat broke free and glared at both Beck and Jade. "You two are giving me a headache!"

"Way to go, BECK," Jade shouted over Cat's head.

"Maybe it's your big mouth, JADE."

Cat covered her ears and began to sing. "Sunny days, thinking of cloouuudsss away!"

"Enough," Jade commanded, pulling Cat's hands away. "We're fine." She took a deep breath and looked at Beck apologetically. "What do you want to do, Cat?"

Cat put a finger to her chin in deep contemplation and stared all around the carnival. There was so much to do! There was the mini roller coaster, the swings, and the funhouse! Then, her eyes landed on the biggest ride of all; the ferris wheel!

"The ferris wheel!"

Jade's eyes widened. "No. I don't do heights."

"Here we go," Beck mumbled, rolling his eyes. He grabbed Cat's hand and pulled her towards him. "Come on, Cat. I'll take you on the ferris wheel."

"What about Jade?" Cat asked, pouting at her best friend.

"No," Jade shook her head. "I'll wait here. On the ground. Where it's safe."

"Ferris wheels are safe!" Cat chirped. "One time, my brother went on a ferris wheel and tried to climb out of it to swing on the moon."

"Have fun," Jade said in irritation, motioning for Beck and Cat to go.

She walked over to an empty bench and sat down, trying her best to block out all of the annoying carnival music and delightful giggles from various children and adults. Cat and Beck were idiotically waving to her as they spun around on the ferris wheel and in that moment, Jade frowned. She was Cat's best friend. It was her job to make Cat feel better about her brother being hospitalized, not Beck's. Then she thought about Beck and how rude she had been all because she didn't want to go to the dumb carnival. But it was for Cat. It was all worth the headache because Cat was giggling excitedly on the ferris wheel, clutching at Beck when it began to speed up.

She got up and found herself at the dumb booth where Cat wanted an equally dumb giraffe. She coughed obnoxiously to get the worker's attention and slammed down ten dollars.

"Back again?"

"Yeah, let's not talk," Jade said through gritted teeth. She picked up the ping-pong balls and stared at the mason jars. This could be really easy if she actually tried…

Except, six shots later, she still hadn't hit anything. The worker was silently chuckling in the corner, which made her even angrier.

"One more chance, girlie."

Jade shook her head in disgust and sighed.

The things she did for Cat Valentine.

* * *

"Let's ride it again!"

Beck tried not to throw up as got off the ferris wheel. "Cat," he laughed tiredly. "No. We've been on it six times in a row."

"One more!"

"No," Beck said firmly. "We should find Jade before she starts cutting up a ticket booth or something."

Cat giggled and skipped alongside Beck, keeping a careful eye out for Jade. When she wasn't anywhere in sight, she gasped. "Jade's gone!"

"I'm sure she just had to use the bathroom or something."

"Kay, kay!" Cat said in satisfaction. Then, she gasped as she saw a young girl walk by with cotton candy. "Beck! Can I get some cotton candy?"

"Sure, why not," Beck said. It's not like they were keeping Cat for the night. What did it matter anyway?

Cat squealed in delight and threw her arms around Beck. "I want the purple kind!"

Beck just nodded and sighed when he pulled out the last ten-dollar bill from his wallet. Cat was lucky she was cute. He handed Cat the purple stick and made sure to hold her hand tightly as they pushed through the crowd. It was getting to be pretty late. Beck hoped Cat wouldn't want to stay much longer because he had some plans of his own with Jade later once the got back to his RV.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding," Jade drawled out in annoyance once she spotted Cat and Beck. She glanced at her boyfriend and then back at Cat. "She just had ice cream!"

Cat giggled and stuffed a large piece of cotton candy in her mouth. "Beck said it was okay!"

"Did he?" Jade said, placing her hands on her hips. Then she shook her head and threw her hands up in the air. "Whatever! I'm not your mother."

"You guys have been acting like my mommy and daddy all night," Cat pointed out happily through bites of spun sugar.

"No we haven't."

"I don't think so."

"Uh huh!" Cat nodded. "I like it."

"Yeah, I don't," Jade grumbled, reaching for a piece of cotton candy. When Cat whined, she rolled her eyes and took an even bigger piece. "Are we ready to go? There's a clown that won't stop hitting on me."

"Aw," Beck teased, sticking his bottom lip out at Jade.

Cat suppressed the yawn rising in her throat and threw out what was left of her cotton candy stick.

Beck looked appalled. "Cat! That cost me four dollars!"

"Okay, now you definitely sound like my daddy!"

Jade laughed and opened her purse. She pulled out the stupid giraffe that cost her nearly twenty bucks to win and forced it in Cat's hands. "Here."

"Jade!" Cat squealed in delight, eyeing the little black giraffe in her hands. "You won this for me?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jade said like it was no big deal. Deep down, it made her feel good. The smile on Cat's face was worth it.

"Oh, but I wanted a pink one! Do you think we can trade it?"

"NO!" Jade screamed. "Do you know how much money that cost me to win? I had to FLIRT with the carnival worker because I couldn't make any of those damn shots!"

Beck rubbed Jade's shoulders in attempt to calm her down. "Okay, babe. We get it."

Cat buried her face into her new giraffe. "I'm sorry, Jade."

"Whatever, it's fine."

"No," Cat laughed. "I was talking to my giraffe. I named her Jade!"

Jade blinked and just shook her head. "I'm touched," she deadpanned. Cat squealed and launched herself at Jade, giving her a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Beck bit back his laughter and kissed Jade's other cheek, slinging an arm around her waist.

"You're a good kid, Jade West."

Jade elbowed Beck in the ribs and broke free. "Shut up." She felt Cat grab onto her hand and whined when it was all sticky and sweaty. "You're not getting in my car like this!"

Cat just giggled and started swinging her giraffe back and forth.

"I'm serious, Cat," Jade continued in irritation. "Don't even think about touching anything. I don't need my seats all sticky."

"Kay, kay!"

"I swear you're like a five-year-old," Jade mumbled to herself.

"Wow, you really sound like my mommy, Jadey!"

"Stop!" Jade groaned, pushing Cat into Beck. "You take her. I've had enough."

Cat looped her arm through Beck's and waited until Jade was out of earshot. "It's like my mom invaded Jade's body, Beck! It's so freaky!"

Beck just patted Cat's head. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much!" Cat nodded vigorously, letting a tiny yawn escape. "I can't wait to tell my brother all about the carnival when I see him tomorrow! I think I'll let him borrow Jade so he doesn't get lonely!"

It took Beck a minute to figure out that Cat meant her giraffe. "Maybe we should rename her, Cat. It could get confusing."

"That's true," Cat gasped. She bit her lip in contemplation and then jumped up when she had an idea. "How about Beck? I actually think the giraffe is a boy." She flipped the giraffe over and stared at it. "How can we tell if it's a boy or girl, Beck?"

"Jade," Beck called out to his girlfriend, uneasily. "Jade!"

Jade whipped around. "What?"

Beck pushed Cat toward Jade with a winning smile. "Cat has a question for you!"


End file.
